02-04-2011, 04:02 PM | #1 | |||
Just parked the car
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Carlsbad
Camera: Canon 7D
Posts: 16
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Photography Learning Series - F/8 And Be There!
F/8 And Be There!
As a photographer, if you haven't heard this phrase used by another photographer yet, you will. It's not new...it's actually been around for quite some time in photojournalism. This famous phrase serves as a great start to the series I'm writing on http://www.sensoryescapeimages.com/b...rp-photos.html This article answers the question, "Is there a particular aperture setting that offers more sharpness than others? The answer: YES! While it differs from lens to lens, it is generally accepted that apertures f/8 and f/11 are the sharpest apertures on the lens. That's right...there are camera settings that provide better sharpness, all other things being equal. What needs to be stated here is that upgrading one's gear is not necessarily the answer to getting better shots while learning to use one's camera more thoroughly definitely is. To demonstrate this, I left my apartment and photographed the first thing I could find, a flower. It's not a very interesting photo but should prove the point. I shot it three times at these f-stops: f/4, f/8, and f/22. Here's the image: The red circle in the center of the image indicates what I was focusing on. I've blown up the three images to 100% to see how sharp there are. f/4 f/8 f/22 The f/4 and f/8 are pretty close but the f/8 is still a tad bit sharper. You'll also notice some purple blur near the top of the flower in the f/4 version. The image shot at f/22 is the least sharp by far. When I shoot studio images, I generally shoot at f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/250 and an ISO of 100. With the use of off-camera flash, these settings provide me with absolutely the sharpest images and I'm able to do so with a hand-held camera...no tripod. To test for yourself which apertures are sharpest on your own lenses, simply set your camera on a tripod and shoot the same image at each aperture. Then open the images in Photoshop and amplify each of them to 100% or more until you see a noticeable difference between them. What does 'F/8 and Be There' mean? F/8 generally provides a great starting place for photographers learning how to use manual settings on their cameras and exploring various apertures. Why f/8? F/8 offers a great middle of the road depth of field focus. This means that photographers can get a nice balance of focus at all depths in their composition while not losing much in one of two tradeoffs (1) Slowing shutter speeds too far risking unintentional motion blur and/or (2) increasing the ISO and thereby the image noise as well. 'F/8 and Be There' means a kept aperture setting of f/8 and being ready for any shot is where photojournalists tend to feel a sense of reliability. Try it out and see for yourself. I'll be covering other tips at various other aperture settings in future articles in this set on http://www.sensoryescapeimages.com/b...rp-photos.html For other tips, visit the Sensory Escape Images Blog |
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02-05-2011, 07:17 AM | #2 | |||
E Ticket Holder
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: SE NY
Software: Craft Artist
Camera: Canon Powershot SX10IS & learning to use my new Nikon D3100
Posts: 3,755
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I loved this! Thanks for writing tips for those of us who want to learn more about photography. Looking forward to more of your entries! Now I'm off to check out your blog.
PS Your pix are amazing!!
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Monica |
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02-05-2011, 08:49 AM | #3 | |||
Taking a Journey Into Imagination
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,642
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thank you so much
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02-07-2011, 11:49 AM | #4 | |||
Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 10,453
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awesome! I'm going to go play with this tomorrow night! thanks for the tips, looking forward to more!
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02-07-2011, 12:00 PM | #5 | |||
Just parked the car
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Carlsbad
Camera: Canon 7D
Posts: 16
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@luv2scrapmm - you bet...thank you for the feedback!
@gillscott - no problem...happy to |
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02-07-2011, 12:01 PM | #6 | |||
Just parked the car
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Carlsbad
Camera: Canon 7D
Posts: 16
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@tukogirl - awesome...let me know how it goes
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02-08-2011, 07:21 PM | #7 | |||
E Ticket Holder
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Worcester, Massachusetts
Software: PSE 12
Camera: Pentax k-x
Posts: 9,615
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Great article! Now I just need to get myself off of auto and figure out how to adjust settings manually... Though I have been playing with the priority modes to see how they are different when shooting the same thing...its a start right.
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02-09-2011, 03:14 PM | #8 |
E Ticket Holder
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Thank you for the lessons!
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02-10-2011, 10:43 PM | #9 | |||
Just parked the car
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Carlsbad
Camera: Canon 7D
Posts: 16
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@liriel Priority modes are a fantastic way to start shooting manually. I know several professional photogs that only shoot in Aperture Priority so good on ya!
@cmtscrap You bet! |
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03-03-2011, 09:02 AM | #10 | |||
Having breakfast in Goofy's Kitchen
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: South Florida
Software: PSE 8; Paint.net; GIMP
Camera: Nikon D90; D40
Posts: 578
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Thanks for the tip i tried this this past weekend and it was great. I can not wait for this weekend to try, I will be at WDW.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/e12/5490575771/ |
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